The Catholic religion is full of mystery — the mystery of God. This mystery is not a human puzzle that a Sherlock Holmes can “solve” by the force of brilliant deductions. Nor is it the type of enigma that can be understood only by an intellectual elite. The ancient world was full of “mystery religions” of […]

I am always happy when I hear a principal say during orientation ‘you have a chosen a Catholic school, and as such, we hold certain values and expect that you will follow those guidelines.’ I have seen first-hand what happens when Catholicism gets, shall we say, “watered down”. As parents my wife and I want […]

The Season of Lent can be seen through many different lenses, all correct and important. This diversity makes lent a truly rich season for any Christian willing to open themselves up to the experience it offers. Recently, my mind is on the idea of obedience as an important lens that lent offers us. The life of a Carmelite […]

“And God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). The Lord said many things throughout Scripture. His words are powerful. We are created in His image and likeness and are filled with His Holy Spirit. Our words are powerful too. Fasting From Words The Scriptures warn us about the evils of […]

“Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done” we pray in the Our Father. “Not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42), prayed Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. For someone seeking to live as a disciple of Christ, finding God’s will for our life is essential. It is something to keep learning about for […]

In my younger days, I was always a dreamer. I was, and to a certain extent still am someone who enjoys dreaming about all kinds of things. On one level there is nothing wrong with having big dreams. It’s natural for anyone. But if it becomes a habit, like it did with me, it can […]

And the man of God [St. Patrick] …earnestly prayed that he might be certified of the present and the future state of Hibernia [Ireland], … [Then Patrick] beheld the whole island as it were a flaming fire ascending unto heaven; and he heard the angel …saying…: “Such at this time is Hibernia in the sight […]

What is Laudate? “Laudate” is a Catholic app found on most phones in “Play Store”. I discovered it in recent years and have found it very helpful in my Catholic life. It is a “free app” which makes it even more appealing. I find it great to know we can find helpful applications on our […]

In the Gospel according to Mark, Christ talks about the sower of seeds. As he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, other seeds fell on rocky ground, while still more fell among thorns. Only the seeds that fell on fertile soil took root and produced fruit. As we get ready for Easter, let us […]

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph I’ve heard the Irish use the names of the Holy Family as profanity, not unlike the way many Americans say, “Oh, God.” But on my Uncle Michael’s lips, these words sounded like a prayer of often-experienced wonder at life. Actually, the words were not so much on his lips as in […]

The reason “Christian films” continue to prosper is because they are incredibly effective in winning their target demographic. However – this is the exact reason why they are ineffectual toward any other kind of viewer. This is what makes them “films for Christians” – not “Christian films.” “Films for Christians” are ego-centric forms of entertainment that represents […]

I have prayed the Prayer for Vocations a couple thousand times and yet it wasn’t until fourteen years ago that it struck a chord. There is something they don’t tell you when you pray this prayer. Over the years, I have heard about the vocation crisis and how the Church needs more priests and religious. […]

In recent years, there have been many claims that this or that Catholic group was discriminatory. Everything from “Pro-choice Woman Denied Catholic Wedding” to “Gay Teacher Fired” to “Autistic Denied Communion.” Some of these are discrimination and need changing, but not all are. We need to understand when the Church is simply fulfilling her mission, […]

In today’s increasingly secular society, it’s very hard to be a woman. From all sides, women are inundated with mixed images: there are the secular feminists who claim that women should anything men can do. On the opposite end, there are those who say that women should only work in the home, serving as wives, […]

Anyone and everyone should be Catholic: God wants it because it is the best way to be a fulfilled human being. But how is someone Catholic? What does it mean to be Catholic? Who is a good Catholic? If you were arrested for being Catholic, would there be enough evidence to convict you? Keep in mind that […]

“The vow of celibacy is a matter of keeping one’s word to Christ and the Church. a duty and a proof of the priest’s inner maturity; it is the expression of his personal dignity.” —Pope St. John Paul II “There is no force in the world better able to alter anything from its course than […]

Living in this fallen world we all desire, deep in our hearts, to help, to heal, to restore what has been lost since leaving Eden. More intimately, we desire to heal our families, bless our friends, and bring order and peace to the communities we live in. Politics, government, laws, agencies and huge bureaucracies are […]

Tommy Tighe is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has worked in community mental health since 2006. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2003 from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Antioch University in 2005. Tighe has contributed to Catholic Digest, Aleteia, and CatholicMom.com. He records The […]

In this season of Lent we are drawn towards metanoia, the changing of our minds, a transformation of our thought by which also our heart and spirit will be transformed to draw closer to God. As we draw closer to the Lord we come to see Him in the face of our fellow human beings. […]

The endurance of darkness is preparation for great light. -Saint John of the Cross Why We Need to Practice Reparation A few weeks back I went to the mall for the first time in a long while, as the mall has never really been my thing. I was struck by the starkness of sin that […]

Even in this time of Lent in the Church, the world rolls on without any serious attention to God. Even within the Church, we often see more attention given to Fish Fry’s than we do Stations of the Cross. It’s a sad statement of our times that many appear to have chosen the wide path […]

“When you and I met, the meeting was over very shortly, it was nothing. Now it is growing something as we remember it . . . What it will be when I remember it as I lie down to die, what it makes in me all my days till then—that is the real meeting. The […]

The Patrick Coffin Show The Patrick Coffin Show podcast features weekly interviews with A-list influencers and outliers in the effort to recover the Judeo-Christian roots of the culture. Patrick is the Canadian-born former host of Catholic Answers Live, and he has raving fans around the world. He injects these fascinating interviews with his own distinctive […]

I find it powerful and transcendent that Lent is a moving journey toward the Cross and beyond. This “moving” however, comes in three distinct contexts. Each context has its place in the Lenten message. Powerful Emotion The first context of moving evoked by Lent may certainly be the strong, somber emotion of following a friend […]

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It’s no secret that young people are abandoning the church. The reasons behind the rebellion and abandonment are complex. No one seems to have a full understanding of the reasoning behind the millennial generation’s denial of the Catholic Church and their subsequent association as “Nones.” As a young person from the millennial generation, even I […]

Philip Lawler is the editor of Catholic World News and is one of America’s most incisive Catholic journalists and commentators. A graduate of Harvard College he has served as editor of Crisis magazine, the Boston Pilot, and Catholic World Report. He is the author or editor of ten books on political and religious topics. His essays, […]

There is a strand in American Christianity that is often called “me and Jesus” Christianity. To have Jesus, you don’t need the Church. You’ll most often find it in Protestantism, but it has also seeped its way into the Catholic Church. If you have ever heard anybody say that they love Jesus but hate the […]

Some Catholic authors write as if they belong to a Church Beleaguered, not the Church Triumphant. Articles tend to be either defensive or angry attacks against adversaries. Many religious writers retreat, focusing only on like-minded souls, writing for a small, mutual admiration society. The rest are tempted to quit when it seems like the world is wearing […]

“We are an Easter people, and ‘Alleluia’ is our song!” Saint John Paul II spoke this phrase at least twice: once, during an address at a black parish in Harlem in 1979, and again before leading the congregation in the Angelus at a Mass in Adelaide, Australia, in 1986. The Pope was paraphrasing a quote […]

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About Us

CATHOLIC STAND is an e-publication presenting essays and creative non-fiction, offering substantive resources with thoughtful insights into how to live the Truth that the Church teaches, owned by Little Vatican Media.